1. Dynamics of Behavior in Organizations
Chapter 14

2. Dynamics of Behavior in Organizations
Managers need to understand the way individuals & groups act
Employees and managers bring their individual differences to work each day
Differences in attitudes, values, personality, and behavior influence
how people interpret an assignment,
whether they like to be told what to do
how they handle challenges
how they interact with others
Manager’s Challenge: Quick Eagle Networks

3. Dynamics of Behavior in Organizations
Topics Chapter 14
Attitudes
Personality
Perception
Learning
Stress management

4. Organizational Behavior
Commonly called OB
Interdisciplinary field dedicated to the study of
attitudes
behavior
performance

5. Interdisciplinary Influences on Organizational Behavior
Economics
Vocational Counseling
Cultural Anthropology
Sociology
Management
Organizational
Behavior
Ethics
Psychology
Industrial
Engineering

6. Organizational Citizenship
Work behavior that goes beyond job requirements and contributes as needed to the organization’s success
Being helpful to coworkers and customers
Doing extra work when necessary
Looking for ways to improve products & procedures

7. Attitudes
Cognitive and affective evaluation that predisposes a person to act in a certain way
Attitudes determine how people
Perceive the work environment
Interact with others
Behave on the job or

8. Components of an Attitude

9. Components of Attitudes
Particularly important when attempting to change attitudes
Cognitive component includes the beliefs, opinions, and information the person has about the object of the attitude
Affective component is the person’s emotions or feelings about the object of the attitude
Behavioral component of an attitude is the person’s intention to behave toward the object of the attitude in a certain way

10. High-Performance Work Attitudes
Two attitudes that might relate to high performance
Job Satisfaction
Organizational Commitment
Managers of today’s knowledge workers often rely on job satisfaction to keep motivation and enthusiasm for the organization high

11. High-Performance Work Attitudes
Job Satisfaction = positive attitude toward one’s job
Organizational Commitment = loyalty to and heavy involvement in one’s organization

12. Conflicts Among Attitudes
Cognitive Dissonance = condition in which two attitudes or a behavior and an attitude conflict
Leon Festinger – 1950s
People want to behave in accordance with their attitudes
Usually will take corrective action

13. Perception
Cognitive process people use to make sense out of the environment by
Selecting
Organizing
Interpreting information

14. Perception
Perception Process: Cognitive process used to make sense out of the environment (3 steps)
Observe information via senses
Screen information & select what to process
Organize selected data into patterns
Perceptual Selectivity: process by which individuals screen and select various stimuli that vie for their attention
Primacy (toward beginning)
Recency (toward end of event)
Perceptual Distortions: errors in perceptual judgment arising from inaccuracies in any part of the perceptual process
Common Errors:
Stereotyping
Halo effect
Projection

15. Common Perceptual Distortions
Stereotyping
Tendency to assign an individual to a group or broad category and then attribute generalizations about the group to the individual

16. Common Perceptual Distortions
Halo Effect
Overall impression of a person or situation based on one characteristic, either favorable or unfavorable

17. Common Perceptual Distortions
Projection
Tendency to see one’s own personal traits in other people

18. Common Perceptual Distortions
Perceptual Defense
Tendency of perceivers to protect themselves by disregarding ideas objects, or people that are threatening to them

19. Attributions
Judgments about what caused a person’s behavior—either characteristics of the person or of the situation
As people organize what they perceive, they often draw conclusions

20. External or Internal Attributions

21. Attribution Biases
Fundamental Attribution Error = tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors on another’s behavior and to overestimate the influence of internal factors
Self-serving Bias = tendency to overestimate the contribution of internal factors to one’s sucesses and the contribution of external factors to one’s failures

22. Personality
Set of characteristics that underlie a relatively stable pattern of behavior in response to ideas, objects, or people in the environment
Big Five Personality Factors
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability
Openness to Experience

23. Big Five Personality Factors

24. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Basic Components
Self-awareness: basis for all other components, being aware of what you are feeling
Self-management: control disruptive or harmful emotions and balance one’s moods so they do not cloud thinking
Social awareness: understand others and practice empathy
Relationship awareness: connect to others, build positive relationships, respond to emotions of others, and influence others

25. Locus of Control
Tendency to place primary responsibility for one’s success or failure either within oneself (internally) or on outside forces (externally)
Internal locus of control- your actions influence what happens to you
External locus of control- represents pawns of fate

26. Behaviors Influenced by Personality
Authoritarianism = belief that power and status differences should exist within the organization
Stick to conventional values
Obey recognized authority above them
Critically judge others
Concerned with power and toughness
Oppose the use of subjective feelings

27. Behaviors Influenced by Personality
Machiavellianism = tendency to direct much of one’s behavior toward the acquisition of power and the manipulation of other people for personal gain

28. Problem Solving Styles
Based on work of Carl Jung
Individuals differ in the way they solve problems and make decisions
Gathering and evaluating information are separate activities
Gather information
Sensation
Intuition
Evaluate information
Thinking
Feeling

29. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Personality test that measures a person’s preference for
introversion vs. extroversion
sensation vs. intuition
thinking vs. feeling
judging vs. perceiving
Experiential Exercise: Personality Assessment (MBTI)

30. Learning and Learning Styles
Learning = change in behavior or performance that occurs as the result of experience
Learning Styles
Diverger
Assimilator
Converger
Accommodator

31. Stress and Stress Management
Stress = physiological and emotional response to stimuli that place physical or psychological demands on an individual
Type A Behavior = pattern characterized by extreme competitiveness, impatience, aggressiveness, and devotion to work
Type B Behavior = pattern that lacks Type A and includes a more balanced, relaxed lifestyle
Ethical Dilemma: Should I Fudge the Numbers?

32. The Stress Response (GAS)

33. Work stress is skyrocketing
Four Categories
Job Tasks Demands
Physical Demands
Role Demand (Sets of expected behaviors)
Interpersonal Demands